Guest Post! Originally posted by Susan Thixton on TruthAboutPetFood, November 6, 2015, and re-posted here with permission.
Your Opportunity to Tell Manufacturers and Regulatory what You want!
This is another first. Consumer representatives have been asked to participate in an industry directed seminar to provide ‘what the consumer wants’. FDA will be speaking, State regulators will be speaking, industry representatives will be speaking. And…consumer representatives get to provide our input too. Wonderful opportunity for us.
At the AAFCO public meeting in January (1/17 – 1/20/2016 in Isle of Palms, South Carolina), AAFCO is holding a special session to help teach ingredient suppliers and manufacturers how to go through the ingredient approval process. AAFCO asked me (and Mollie Morrissette and Dr. Hofve) to participate in this special session providing information on what consumers want from ingredient definitions. My presentation will be based on what you tell me you want them to know.
So…knowing that this session is for industry, and knowing that it is presented to teach industry (pet food manufacturers, animal feed manufacturers, ingredient manufacturers) how to go through the proper process for approval of an ingredient – consumer advocates are asked to present on ‘What do pet parents want from an ingredient statement?’
We have 20 minutes (which is a good amount of time!) to give our presentation. What do you want industry to know?
What are your challenges/frustrations with pet food ingredients?
If you needed to understand a pet food ingredient – where do you go to find that definition?
How easy or difficult is it to find the definition of a pet food ingredient?
Do you understand the definition?
Does the list of ingredients on a pet food label give you the right information? What do you like or dislike?
What do you want the pet food label to tell you (in reference to ingredients only)?
And anything else you can tell me – what you want from pet food ingredients – that will be great. I will put together a presentation based on your feedback – and after the AAFCO meeting I will provide that presentation here for all of you to see.
We don’t know if ‘they’ will listen – but…FDA and AAFCO along with industry will be hearing our presentation. It is a great first step to getting our voices heard! My thanks to AAFCO (specifically to President Richard TenEyck) for giving us this opportunity.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
Tracy here!
Please take a couple of minutes to add your voice to ours and to the many others who are demanding change to the pet food industry’s confusing, unhelpful and at times misleading pet food labeling practices.
Do you want a more accurate Guaranteed Analysis of protein, fat, fiber, moisture and ash than today’s minimum/maximum numbers? How about clear meat/plant identification of calorie or protein sources? Or perhaps an end to “Ingredient Splitting” (often used to hide true “filler” amounts)?
Then contact me directly, leave your comments below, or hop over to Susan’s site and leave your comments there… whatever way is most convenient for you, as long as you say something.
And of course share this opportunity with every pet-loving family member, friend, colleague and neighbor you have.
Join us in working to make tomorrow’s manufactured cat food a healthier option for our kitties!
